Avon ZZR experiences

[sdca7]

Hello all,

 

I'm back in the Caterham after a bit of time to put a new transmission/shifter system in. I have run a wide variety of tires over the years,including Kumho V710, Hankook slicks, Avon CR500's, and most recently Hoosier A6's. The A6 is fine, but I am always looking for the best time trial tire.

 

I was getting ready to move back to slicks, but after talking with the guys at Roger Kraus Racing, I am going to try a set of ZZR's. I ordered rears for all four corners. He said there are a number of Texas Caterham owners using these, and I was curious to your experiences. His impression was that they may be within a second of the Avon A53 slicks on a two minute course, and lasted much longer.

 

Would love to hear about any experiences with these or and other recent road race/time trial choices for your seven.

 

Justin

[xcarguy]

Justin,

 

A few positive comments in this thread regarding ZZR's:

 

http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?t=9550

 

:cheers:

[sdca7]

I am hoping they will live up to all the hoopla! I've seen a few comments on the internet of people who were ordering them to try them, but not a lot comparing lap times to slicks or other R compound tires. I will see how they compare in lap time to the Hoosier A6's, and if not considerably different, will try the Avon slicks in A11 or A53 next. I love trying new track tires. Would buy a few sets a year if my wallet would cooperate.

 

Justin

[sdca7]

I had the ZZR's out on track this weekend. I was only able to go out for a few sessions due to some electrical gremlins who came along for the ride. But my first impression is that the ZZR's are a wonderful track tire. Good feedback, great grip, and probably only a second or two slower than medium compound slicks. When I chase away the gremlins, I will take them back out for a head-to-head with some sticky tires and report back.

 

Justin

[Klasik-69]

I was just wondering why you ran the A6 Hoosiers vs the R6. It looks like you run time trials and as such, if you run like we do in the SEDIV SCCA, we go out for 20 to 30 minute runs, and that would cook a typical A6 compound. Likely after the third lap, the tire would be so gummy you would lose lap times. What diameter wheel are you running with the ZZR tires ? Better yet, what are the tire sizes ?

[sdca7]

I haven't had any problem with the A6 getting too hot - as a matter of fact, on some of our tracks I can't even get them up to the temperature I'd like to run them at! We have guys in SCCA T1 corvettes using the A6's for 30 minute races. They can work for 30 minute sessions, and are more durable than you'd think for road racing. You still have the "hero" laps where the first few sessions are incredibly fast, but even after a dozen heat cycles they are still pretty sticky. The sizes I run are 13 255/40 rear and 13 225/45 front.

 

After using the ZZR's for a while, I feel that although they are a very good track tire, they are slower than the A6 or the Kumho V710. They feel great on track, but just don't have the traction that I had hoped for. They are probably an ideal tire to drive to the track on and then use for lapping, but not sticky enough for me. I am using the 13 215/55 rear and 13 185/55 front for the ZZR's. I wish they would release the ZZR in a softer compound like they did for limited production runs in the UK.

 

I have tried 10 inch slicks on front and back like it seems that many of you use, but I don't tend to have any faster lap times than with 8 inch rears and 7 inch fronts. The most incredible setup I've tried so far is Avon A11's, 8 inch rear and 7 inch front. So much faster than the Hankook and Goodyear slicks I've tried, but not cheap!

 

If I were wealthy enough, I would run Avon A11's all the time. But I will probably continue to run Hoosier A6's since they are much cheaper and very durable. I am mostly using the Caterham for fun, and to improve my driving skills. So even though it is entertaining to torture the Cup Cars and the Radicals with the Avons, I can live with losing a few seconds to them on the A6's!

 

I'd love to hear any one else's opinions on tires they've tried.

 

Justin